Plus-Size Women Can Now Work Out in Nike

When Nike posted a photo on Instagram of a plus-size model clad in a sports bra and exercise pants last July, women deluged the site with raves—and 79,500 likes. But a much-anticipated line of larger-sized exercise gear never followed. "Big girls work out too!" one woman tweeted. "Stay tuned," Nike responded. Now, the sportswear maker has finally unveiled a line of plus size clothing, featuring more than 200 products, from workout pants and leggings to shirts and jackets, Mashable reports. "Strong is the keyword for us; size doesn’t matter," says Nike VP Helen Boucher. Per a Nike statement, via Glamour: "The days where we have to add 'female' before 'athlete' are over. She is an athlete, period. And having helped fuel this cultural shift, we celebrate these athletes' diversity, from ethnicity to body shape."

Nike rolled out the new line with an ad campaign that Buzzfeed notes featuring prominent models and "influencers" like Grace Victory and Danielle Vanier. Ecstatic women took to Twitter. "How cool is that," tweeted one woman, while another tweeted that the line that goes up to 3X and 38E for sports bras is "not perfect, but it's a start!" Tweets goaded Adidas and other manufacturers to follow suit. One would think the corporate world would have caught on before now: Extended size apparel has outpaced sales of all other women's clothing combined for the past three years, hitting $20.4 billion in 2016, Bloomberg noted last year. (This celeb took issue with being labeled plus-size.)